UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department takes to ensure that the provisions of Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child are applied to all policies which affect young people.

Sarah Teather: The Government believe that involving children and young people in discussion about services that affect their lives is likely to improve services and help in developing confident and responsible citizens.
	The Department has engaged with children and young people through a range of channels including its Children and Youth Board; the Office of the Children's Commissioner; and key stakeholders from the children's sector.

Aggregates Levy: Northern Ireland

Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions he plans to have with the European Commission on the reintroduction of the Northern Ireland Aggregates Levy Credit Scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Justine Greening: holding answer 10 November 2010
	 State aid approval for the Aggregates Levy Credit Scheme was due to expire in April 2011 and discussions had begun to continue the scheme until at least 2021.
	However, as a result of the European General Court ruling of 9 September, that approval was annulled and continuing the scheme would have constituted illegal state aid. The Government have therefore announced that the scheme will be suspended from 1 December 2010.
	The Government support the re-introduction of the scheme at the earliest opportunity. Officials are working closely with the authorities in Northern Ireland and representatives of the quarrying industry to provide the Commission with evidence to enable them to approve the scheme both retrospectively and for the future.

Bank Levy

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what representations he has received from  (a) the British Bankers Association and ( b) individual banks on the rate at which the proposed bank levy should be charged;
	(2)  what representations he has received from the International Monetary Fund on the rate at which the proposed bank levy should be charged;
	(3)  what representations he has received from non-governmental organisations on the rate at which the proposed bank levy should be charged.

Mark Hoban: The Government published 'Bank Levy: A Consultation' on 13 July 2010, and invited the views of business, as well as the views of representative bodies and tax advisers on the design and implementation of the levy. The Government received a total of 48 responses, including from the British Bankers' Association and a number of banks, on a wide range of issues. Details of the responses received, and a full list of respondents, were set out in 'Bank Levy: Consultation Response', published on 21 October, available at:
	http://hm-treasury.gov.uk/fin_bank_levy.htm
	The Government have not received any representations on the bank levy from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF Article IV report on the UK economy published on 9 November 2010 stated that the bank levy "is in line with the design of the financial stability contribution (FSC) set out in the IMF's paper prepared for the G-20-A Fair and Substantial Contribution by the Financial Sector".
	Neither the IMF's Article IV report nor their report to the G20 made any specific recommendations about the appropriate yield from the levy or other taxes.

Bank Services: Standards

Jo Swinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidelines his Department requires banks to follow in their treatment of customers who spend significant periods of time, or live, abroad.

Mark Hoban: Banks and building societies are subject to the Financial Services Authority's (FSA) Banking and Payments Services Conduct Regime, which provides rules and guidance on firm's conduct of banking business. Banks are not required to follow specific rules for non-resident customers or those spending time abroad.

Child Benefit

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many households in  (a) Newcastle Upon Tyne North constituency,  (b) the North East and  (c) England he expects to be affected by the proposed changes to child benefit.

David Gauke: The number of households affected by the withdrawal of child benefit from families with a higher rate taxpayer in 2013:
	(a) In the north-east is estimated to be around 50,000.
	(b) In England is estimated to be around 1.3 million.
	Information on household income for child benefit claimants is not available at parliamentary constituency level.

National Insurance

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the annual cost of administering the National Insurance system; what estimate he has made of the proportion of national insurance contributions made by  (a) employees and  (b) employers in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: The estimate of the annual administration costs of the national insurance system for the 2010-11 tax year is £1.54 billion. The most recent estimates for total national insurance contributions receipts published on the ONS website is £96.9 billion for the 2009-10 tax year, of which 43% relate to employee contributions and 57% employer contributions.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much money his Department allocated to  (a) the Stabilisation Aid Fund,  (b) the Conflict Prevention Pool,  (c) the Discretionary Peacekeeping Fund,  (d) the BBC World Service, excluding the BBC World Service Trust,  (e) the BBC World Service Trust,  (f) the Special Reserve,  (g) the British Council and  (h) the Security and Intelligence Fund in each year since 2005.

Nick Harvey: holding answer 11 October 2010
	The Conflict Pool was formed by the merger of the Stabilisation Aid Fund and Conflict Prevention Pool on 1 April 2009, and is part of a separate HM Treasury settlement on conflict resources which is managed jointly by the Department for International Development, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The MOD made a contribution from its Treasury settlement of £6.5 million in 2009-10 to supplement funding available from the Conflict Pool for security and stabilisation work in Afghanistan.
	The following table shows the sums transferred from funds voted by Parliament to the MOD to the Conflict Prevention Pool/Conflict Pool, the Stabilisation Aid Fund and the Security and Intelligence Account from 2005-06 to 2009-10. It also shows payments made to the British Council for specific services.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10 
			 Stabilisation Aid Fund - - - 13 - 
			 Conflict Prevention Pool/Conflict Pool 49 51 29 47 67 
			 British Council 0 2 2 2 2 
			 Security and Intelligence Account 0 1 1 2 0 
		
	
	The MOD has not contributed to a Discretionary Peacekeeping Fund or allocated funds to the BBC World Service, the BBC World Service Trust or the British Council.
	The MOD does not contribute funds to the Reserve, which is the responsibility of HM Treasury. The MOD is a net recipient of the Reserve which is used for paying the net additional costs of military operations such as those in Afghanistan and Iraq.
	There is no Security and Intelligence Fund. There is however a Single Intelligence Account to fund the business of the Intelligence and Security Agencies. The MOD is reimbursed for some of the services it provides.

BBC

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent meetings Ministers in his Department had with the Director-General of the BBC; and whether the matter of pensions was discussed at those meetings.

Jeremy Browne: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs met the director-general of the British Broadcasting Corporation on 20 October. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the transfer of the funding of the British Broadcasting Corporation World Service to the licence fee in 2014-15.
	A full list of ministerial meetings with external organisations is published quarterly on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's website at
	http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/publications-and-documents/transparency-and-data1/hospitality/

Iran: Terrorism

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the extent of Iranian involvement with terrorist groups in  (a) Southern Lebanon and  (b) Gaza; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: Iranian support to militia groups in Southern Lebanon and Gaza is unacceptable. It further undermines international confidence in Iran and the Iranian Government's claim that it supports peace and stability in the Middle East.

Employment and Support Allowance

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people who will stop receiving contributory employment and support allowance after 12 months in each year to 2015.

Chris Grayling: The requested information will be available on 29 November 2010 alongside the autumn statement and will be deposited in the Library.
	Claimants in the work related activity group who stop receiving contributory employment and support allowance after 12 months will be able to claim income-related employment and support allowance if eligible. We estimate that 60% will be able to claim some income-related employment and support allowance. There will always be a safety net to support those who have no means of supporting themselves.

Mental Health Services

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 2 November 2010,  Official Report, column 775W, on mental health services, if he will make it his policy that officials in his Department engaged in delivering the work programme should receive specific training in recognising, and dealing with, the needs of people diagnosed with depression.

Chris Grayling: The work programme will be delivered by contractors drawn from the private, public and voluntary sectors, as well as social enterprises. It will help people with a wide variety of needs, and providers will be given the freedom to design support based on an individual's needs. Specialist organisations will continue to have a role to play, and there will be lots of opportunities for them to work with larger delivery partners as subcontractors.
	We will offer flexible support through Jobcentre Plus to customers before they are referred to the work programme. The support that Jobcentre Plus delivers to customers across all working age benefits will allow more flexibility to Jobcentre Plus managers and advisers to judge which interventions will help individual customers most cost-effectively and meet local need.
	Each Jobcentre Plus district has a mental health co-ordinator who supports advisers to provide tailored, personalised support to people who have mental health conditions and over the last year all Jobcentre Plus new claim advisers have had the opportunity to attend mental health training.
	Jobcentre Plus learning products currently available for frontline staff include awareness of a range of customer groups including an overview of disability and health conditions, with signposts to sources of specialist help, including the disability employment adviser (DEA) role. DEAs, who focus on customers needing more extensive support, receive further levels of skills training appropriate to their customers, including skills practice in interviewing customers with depression. Furthermore, this learning will be reviewed as appropriate in accordance with the needs of the work programme.
	In addition, advisers, including DEAs, can seek help from their work psychologist colleagues to assist them in supporting customers where appropriate. All Jobcentres have access to DEA services, either by DEAs located within the Jobcentre or, for example, in more rural areas access to peripatetic DEAs who provide services across a number of locations.

Members: Correspondence

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Don Valley of 28 October 2010 on Jenny Watson.

Bob Neill: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has replied directly to the right hon. Member.

Food: Standards

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much  (a) Government and  (b) public sector funding was allocated to food meeting British Farm Assured standards in the most recent year for which figures are available; what estimate she has made of the monetary value to British farmers of this expenditure; and if she will estimate the level of revenue which would accrue to British farmers if all public sector food procurement met British Farm Assured standards.

James Paice: We estimate that the public sector as a whole spends just over £2 billion on food and food services each year and that about £922 million per year of this is spent on food and food ingredients. Of this, £322 million is spent by central Government and the remaining £600 million by the wider public sector. The most recent data on central Government food procurement are included in the third report on the proportion of domestically produced food in the public sector, published at:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/policy/publicsectorfood/
	This relates to central Government, those parts of the NHS supplied by the NHS Supply Chain and the MoD; it also includes data on "the percentage of farm assured food of all food supplied" on a Department by Department basis. The range varies from 0 to 100%. No estimates of the monetary value of this expenditure have been possible as we do not have detailed data on the proportion of specific commodities procured meeting farm assurance standards. We do not have any data on the proportion of food meeting farm assurance or equivalent standards procured by the wider public sector.

Departmental Postal Services

Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the monetary value was of contracts between his Department and its predecessors and  (a) Post Office Ltd. and  (b) Royal Mail in (i) 1997-98 and (ii) each year since 2004-05.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was created on 3 October 2008, merging functions previously undertaken by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).
	Because of the way information was held on the accounting systems of predecessor Departments, it is not possible to identify DECC's share of expenditure with specific suppliers prior to 2009-10.
	Expenditure with the Post Office Ltd and Royal Mail for the financial years 2009-10 and 2010-11 are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  £ 
			  Supplier  2009-10  1 April  to 17 November 2010 
			 Royal Mail 3,172 679 
			 Post Office Ltd 0 0

Departmental Postal Services

Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department has taken to identify those of its services that could be provided through the Post Office network.

Gregory Barker: The Department does not deliver services of the type that would be suitable for delivery by post offices. Much of what the Department delivers is either quite technical in nature, is through the use of energy company licences or is via regional telephone and web-based advice centres.

Regulation

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what regulations sponsored by his Department have been revoked in the last six months.

Gregory Barker: In the last six months, the Department has not revoked any regulatory measures(1).
	However, we have introduced two deregulatory statutory instruments which prescribe a power to allow local authorities to sell electricity generated from renewable as well as combined heat and power sources:
	The Sale of Electricity by Local Authorities (Scotland) Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/1908)
	The Sale of Electricity by Local Authorities (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/1910)
	Also, my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, responsible for the Department's regulatory agenda, wrote to 250 of the Department's key stakeholders asking for their views on ways to reduce DECC's regulatory burden. The response letter from my noble Friend and a summary of responses to this exercise was published 12 November on the DECC internet site:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/about/better_reg/better_reg.aspx
	My noble Friend's response announced plans to repeal 28 regulations. The exact process for repealing these is still being explored (a suitable vehicle for repeal needs to be found, and consultation with relevant parties such as the devolved administrations will need to take place for certain policies).
	We will also be continuing to scrutinise our stock of regulation and pipeline measures inherited from the previous administration with a view to finding OUTs, for the one-in, one-out regulatory management system.
	(1) Notes:
	The Aviation Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading scheme Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/2301) were revoked and replaced by the Aviation Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/1996). The 2009 regulations will however continue to have effect for some purposes.
	We have not included any revocations of DECC legislation by other Departments, or any partial revocations of DECC legislation.
	We have not included any regulations revoked by the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority.

Office of the Information Commissioner: Legal Action

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what material legal actions the Office of the Information Commissioner has initiated against people or companies alleged to have broken UK law in each of the last 10 years; and how many such actions resulted in a conviction in each such year.

Jonathan Djanogly: Details of legal actions initiated by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) are set out in the following tables.
	
		
			  Data Protection Act 1998 
			   Prosecutions  Convictions  Undertakings  Enforcement notices 
			 2000-01 21 21 n/a 4 
			 2001-02 15 (1)33 n/a 4 
			 2002-03 11 80 n/a 4 
			 2003-04 8 8 n/a No information available 
			 2004-05 12 12 2 No information available 
			 2005-06 16 16 11 No information available 
			 2006-07 13 13 13 6 
			 2007-08 11 (2)10 9 9 
			 2008-09 (3)19 14 14 6 
			 2009-10 9 9 57 15 
		
	
	ICO prosecutions under the Data Protection Act have sometimes been for multiple offences.
	
		
			  Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 200 3( 4) 
			   Enforcement notices  Convictions( 5)  Enforcement orders  Undertakings 
			 2000-01 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 2001-02 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 2002-03 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 2003-04 0 0 n/a 0 
			 2004-05 0 0 n/a 0 
			 2005-06 2 0 n/a 0 
			 2006-07 5 0 0 2 
			 2007-08 5 1 0 (6)8 
			 2008-09 3 0 0 0 
			 2009-10 4 1 (7)l 0 
		
	
	
		
			  Freedom of Information Act 2000( 8) 
			   Practice recommendations( 9)  Enforcements( 10) 
			 2000-01 n/a n/a 
			 2001-02 n/a n/a 
			 2002-03 n/a n/a 
			 2003-04 n/a n/a 
			 2004-05 n/a n/a 
			 2005-06 0 0 
			 2006-07 1 1 
			 2007-08 4 0 
			 2008-09 3 0 
			 2009-10 3 0 
			 (1) In 2001-02 there were 16 withdrawals, nine offences lay on file, and there were eight acquittals. (2) There was one desertion in 2007-08. (3) In 2008-09 there were five withdrawals. (4) The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations came into force in December 2003. (5) Convictions for breach of Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations enforcement notices. (6) This includes three undertakings secured under part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2002. (7) The ICO assisted West Sussex Trading Standards in their successful application for an enforcement order obtained under the Enterprise Act 2002 for breaches of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. (8) The Freedom of Information Act 2000 came into force in 2005, and the Commissioner's Office received its first Freedom of Information complaints at the end of the 2004-05 financial year. (9) A practice recommendation can be issued by the Information Commissioner where a public authority does not conform to the codes of practice associated with the Act. (10) An enforcement notice under the Freedom of Information Act is a legal order the Information Commissioner can make to require a public authority to address its failure to comply with part 1 of the Freedom of Information Act. In practice, this is most likely to be used where there is systemic or repeated non-compliance.  Source: This information has been provided by the ICO.

Competition Policy

Dave Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans he has for the future of his Department's competition policy.

Edward Davey: The Government have announced they will consult on proposals to strengthen the competition regime and deliver more streamlined and consistent processes for businesses by bringing together the Competition Commission and the competition functions of the Office of Fair Trading to form a single competition and markets authority.
	The aim is to enhance further an already world class regime to the benefit of consumers, and to growth and productivity of the economy. We expect to issue the consultation document in the new year.

Broadband: Wales

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions Ministers and officials in his Department have had with Members of the National Assembly for Wales other than Ministers in the Welsh Assembly Government on a proposed pilot in Wales for high speed broadband services.

Edward Vaizey: BIS Ministers did not have any meetings with members of the National Assembly of Wales about the superfast broadband pilots prior to their selection but officials had regular dialogue with all the devolved Administrations and regional development agencies prior to the selection of the superfast broadband pilots. My officials continue to work with the Welsh Assembly Government on ways in which we can together help deliver broadband rollout.

New Businesses: Females

Helen Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what schemes his Department  (a) operates and  (b) plans to operate to provide assistance to women to set up their own businesses; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Prisk: A number of measures are being undertaken with the purpose of stimulating growth which are particularly targeting support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These will assist women with setting up in business or help with improving the businesses already set up by women.
	As the regional development agencies are decommissioned I will introduce a new and flexible delivery system which will include a national website, a national contact centre and access to mentors which should help SMEs to grow. I also intend to establish a network of growth hubs in England to support businesses with high growth potential.
	The Government will provide highly focused support to SMEs through a renewed and streamlined portfolio of business improvement products through Solutions for Business to be launched by this Department by April 2011.
	We are establishing Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) as set out in the White Paper on Local Growth. This will involve local business and civic leaders working together to drive economic growth and create new jobs in their communities.

Overseas Trade: Asia

Julian Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills by what mechanisms UK Trade and Investment is encouraging British businesses to trade in emerging economies in Asia.

Mark Prisk: Encouraging British business to trade with the emerging economies in Asia is a priority for the Government led by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, as seen through his visits to India and China. UK Trade and Investment has teams in all the major Asia economies which are tasked with drawing business opportunities to the attention of UK businesses and then helping them succeed internationally. UK Trade and Investment has a full programme of sectorally focused activity linked to Asian markets which, at its core, puts UK business in a position to trade successfully. Finally, the Asia Task Force, co-chaired by my right HON. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, and the noble Lord Powell of Bayswater, has been running since 2009 a programme of outreach activity which, by the end of this year, will have encouraged more than 2000 businesses in the UK to look at business opportunities in Asia.

Post Office: Royal Mail

Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the merits of an inter business arrangement between Post Office Ltd and Royal Mail following implementation of provisions of the Postal Services Bill.

Edward Davey: The Government are clear that Post Office Ltd and Royal Mail will remain closely entwined in operational terms and will continue to rely on one another after the separation of the businesses provided for in the Postal Services Bill. While the commercial terms of such a relationship will be a matter for Post Office Ltd and Royal Mail to agree, the Government believe that it is in the best interests of both companies for there to be a long-term commercial contract in place between them going forward.

Post Offices

Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether criteria have been agreed between his Department and Post Office Ltd to determine the appropriateness of the Post Office local model for sub post offices; and whether the model will apply to sub post offices with no additional retail business.

Edward Davey: The Post Office Ltd is currently conducting pilot trials of the Post Office local model in some 50 locations, with analysis of the trials shared regularly with officials in this Department. The trials will enable any necessary fine tuning of the model to be made in the light of practical, operational experience. The Post Office local model is structured to work alongside a complementary retail activity and will not apply in circumstances where there is no additional retail business.